Cannot use hard drive in older computer

nick97 · 01-07-2007, 12:32 PM

Hi - I'm new here, and this is probably easy.

My primary PC's motherboard is dead. It's pretty old, so no big deal. I have another PC with ME on the hard drive, and it's just a little bit older than the dead one.

So I figured I'd simply take the hard drive out of the dead one and run it out of the older one. This hard drive has XP sp2, all my apps and hundreds of files. I know the drive works fine.

I took the drive with ME on it out of the old box, and put in my XP drive (40gig). Then when I reboot, I get a Disk not ready error. Put in the XP CD to reinstall, and get message that there is no hard drive on the computer. (this box is from 1999 and had 98/ME installed.)

I put the drive with ME back in, went to Gateways website, and downloaded and installed an updated BIOS. Still will not detect the drive.

With the ME drive as master, and XP as slave, ME detects the disk, but says that it is not formatted.

I know the XP drive works fine, because I'm running it as master in my brother's box right now as I type this message.

Any help or suggestions would surely be appreciated.

ceri sheeran · 01-07-2007, 01:06 PM

Hi,

The WIN ME hard drive in the old computer is probably using A FAT32 file system. It will not recognise the NTFS file system hard drive with your XP installation properly. Hence it will try and format the drive.

You could convert the drive using Parition Magic from NTFS to FAT32. Acronis Disk Director should be able to do the same.

There are free and shareware partition managemnt programs Partition Logic and Ranish.

If the data is critical you should back it up before trying any conversion from FAT32 to NTFS

hth

Ceri

nick97 · 01-07-2007, 01:19 PM

I agree with you, as to why the ME drive cant read the XP drive when the XP drive is the slave, but why isn't the XP drive seen when it is the only (master) drive?

When I plug the XP drive in solo, with the jumper set to master, or cable select, it does'nt POST. Just get "drive not ready" error.

Now since the box itself has an old ('99) disk controller, do I need to do something in WinXP to include this controler?

When I boot from the ME drive and look up the hard disk controller in device manager, it shows: AMD 756 OCU Bus Master Dual IDE Controller. Is it possible that this controller was not included with XP?

ceri sheeran · 01-07-2007, 01:24 PM

Hi,

If the XP drive did not have XP installed on it whilst in place and connected to the computer you are now using it in then it will throw a tantrum and not work.

You will need to carry out a repair isntallation of XP to get the drive to work in a computer with a different harware configuration.

A hard drive with XP installed on it cannot be used in a different computer, unless the hardware configuration is identical.

Ceri

nick97 · 01-07-2007, 01:33 PM

Hi, and I thank you for your help.

I thought the same thing, that the hardware problem was the issue. XP was indeed installed on a different computer. So I tried the repair install, and the disk was not seen. As soon as I hit enter to setup windows, getting "setup does not detect a hard disk......setup cannot continue."

ceri sheeran · 01-07-2007, 02:05 PM

Is the hard disk recognised fully in BIOS.

If not check your jumper and cable settings.

Also check the cables. I have had IDE cables fail on me before, I keep a spare 80 wire and 40 wire IDE cable and spare SATA cable just in case.

Master drive is the end of the IDE cable, Slave the centre connection.

Jumpers need to match the drive connection or be Cable Select.

Check the drive channels are all set to Auto on BIOS.

I still believe your best option is going to be to backup all your data and then re-install.

Ceri

nick97 · 01-07-2007, 02:25 PM

Bios doesn't see it when it's alone, yet ME sees it when slaved, which is odd.

Cables fine, as ME and 98 drives work. BIOS, jumpers...as they should be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceri sheeran

I still believe your best option is going to be to backup all your data and then re-install.

Ceri

I think you are right. However, to reinstall apps will take days.

If I create an image using Acronis True Image, then format, boot with Acronis and reinstall the image while the drive is in the old box, do you think I'll be good to go?

(I have Norton Ghost, but since I installed it on 3 pc's, I cannot activate any. Online chat with Sym told me I could call and straighten it out...yeah right. I would much rather purchase Acronis True...)

01-07-2007, 12:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
nick97 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4 OS: xp	Cannot use hard drive in older computer Hi - I'm new here, and this is probably easy. My primary PC's motherboard is dead. It's pretty old, so no big deal. I have another PC with ME on the hard drive, and it's just a little bit older than the dead one. So I figured I'd simply take the hard drive out of the dead one and run it out of the older one. This hard drive has XP sp2, all my apps and hundreds of files. I know the drive works fine. I took the drive with ME on it out of the old box, and put in my XP drive (40gig). Then when I reboot, I get a Disk not ready error. Put in the XP CD to reinstall, and get message that there is no hard drive on the computer. (this box is from 1999 and had 98/ME installed.) I put the drive with ME back in, went to Gateways website, and downloaded and installed an updated BIOS. Still will not detect the drive. With the ME drive as master, and XP as slave, ME detects the disk, but says that it is not formatted. I know the XP drive works fine, because I'm running it as master in my brother's box right now as I type this message. Any help or suggestions would surely be appreciated.

01-07-2007, 01:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Hi, The WIN ME hard drive in the old computer is probably using A FAT32 file system. It will not recognise the NTFS file system hard drive with your XP installation properly. Hence it will try and format the drive. You could convert the drive using Parition Magic from NTFS to FAT32. Acronis Disk Director should be able to do the same. There are free and shareware partition managemnt programs Partition Logic and Ranish. If the data is critical you should back it up before trying any conversion from FAT32 to NTFS hth Ceri Last edited by ceri sheeran; 01-07-2007 at 01:09 PM.

01-07-2007, 01:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
nick97 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4 OS: xp	I agree with you, as to why the ME drive cant read the XP drive when the XP drive is the slave, but why isn't the XP drive seen when it is the only (master) drive? When I plug the XP drive in solo, with the jumper set to master, or cable select, it does'nt POST. Just get "drive not ready" error. Now since the box itself has an old ('99) disk controller, do I need to do something in WinXP to include this controler? When I boot from the ME drive and look up the hard disk controller in device manager, it shows: AMD 756 OCU Bus Master Dual IDE Controller. Is it possible that this controller was not included with XP?

01-07-2007, 01:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Hi, If the XP drive did not have XP installed on it whilst in place and connected to the computer you are now using it in then it will throw a tantrum and not work. You will need to carry out a repair isntallation of XP to get the drive to work in a computer with a different harware configuration. A hard drive with XP installed on it cannot be used in a different computer, unless the hardware configuration is identical. Ceri

01-07-2007, 01:33 PM	#5 (permalink)
nick97 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4 OS: xp	Hi, and I thank you for your help. I thought the same thing, that the hardware problem was the issue. XP was indeed installed on a different computer. So I tried the repair install, and the disk was not seen. As soon as I hit enter to setup windows, getting "setup does not detect a hard disk......setup cannot continue."

01-07-2007, 02:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
ceri sheeran Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 285 OS: WINXP	Is the hard disk recognised fully in BIOS. If not check your jumper and cable settings. Also check the cables. I have had IDE cables fail on me before, I keep a spare 80 wire and 40 wire IDE cable and spare SATA cable just in case. Master drive is the end of the IDE cable, Slave the centre connection. Jumpers need to match the drive connection or be Cable Select. Check the drive channels are all set to Auto on BIOS. I still believe your best option is going to be to backup all your data and then re-install. Ceri